Back in May 2001 - I described my language learning algorithm
which I present here with some modifications only
to make it nicer to read.
Today - after more than two years of Norsk Experiment -
my ideas about language learning are richer
and this algorithm no longer presents my most modern attitude.

1. Pronunciation and phonetic transcription

(Phonetic transcription is a spelling system with special characters
for writing the pronunciation of words.)

Get a Fornish-Fornish dictionary with phonetic transcription.
(Fornish stands for any foreign language.)
Get materials about Fornish pronunciation
(a course-book with Fornish pronunciation plus audio-tapes).
I would start with pronunciation.
Pronunciation would be my first object of interest.

I could learn without pronunciation at all,
but then I would not speak Fornish at all.
I would start speaking only after acquainting myself with correct pronunciation.
I don't want to begin with building bad habits.
I would learn proper pronunciation from the start.

If there is a phonetic system for Fornish pronunciation,
I have to know about it and learn to use it at the beginning of my study.
I learn every new word together with its phonetic transcription.
I keep this habit all my life.

2. Sentences rather than single words

Get a course-book for zero beginners that it is meant for self-study.
I would read the course-book page by page paying attention to everything.
I learn whole sentences from the coursebook rather than single words.
I add these sentences to my SuperMemo collection.
(SuperMemo is a computer program that
I had used for many years to learn English and German.)

I build my grammar knowledge on the basis of sentences.
For every piece of grammatical knowledge
I have at least seven sentences which demonstrate it.
Grammar through examples - it is the essence of my algorithm.

3. Reading in Fornish

At some point I start reading simplified Fornish texts (if they exist).
Later I start reading real Fornish books - not simplified.
As I read in Fornish I look up words in a Fornish-Fornish dictionary.
Again I focus on whole sentences. I add a number of example sentences
to my SuperMemo collection for every word that I learn.

Key points

phonetic transcription

focus on whole sentences rather than single words

Fornish-Fornish dictionary (monolingual)

Fornish learning materials only - no other language involved

reading Fornish texts

adding Fornish sentences to my SuperMemo collection

My decision to learn another foreign language

After I wrote this algorithm I felt a desire to start learning another foreign language.
I wanted to test it - I wanted to learn like that.

For some time I was looking for a language to learn and then I finally chose Norwegian.
There is an interesting anectode which explains my choice.

Why I chose Norwegian rather than some other language

I once told my brother
that I could teach any language from the zero level.
I told him that I was going to put an advertisement
in a newspaper saying that I teach any language from the zero level.

The idea is that when a client comes to me
and asks me to teach them some exotic language,
I can simply start learning that language,
and after some time I'll be able to teach it to my client.

I said it very seriously and I meant it.
My brother asked me to teach him Norwegian.
I agreed and that's how I chose Norwegian.